Destroyed
by lin-ifyouplease
Summary: "He walks by himself in the street. He doesn't talk to anyone. Sometimes you'll hear him whisper, blaming himself for what happened. He takes long showers and sometimes drives out to the lake in the middle of the night. He cries whenever he sees children. Have pity on him. He hasn't been the same since Arielle died." THE THREE-PART EPIC CONCLUSION OF THE DROWNED SAGA.
1. The Next Page

**AN: Welcome to "Destroyed", the three part conclusion to the Drowned Saga! Here we jump ahead four years since the events of "Followed". Scott, Stiles, Lydia, and Kira are 22 and either already have or are about to graduate from college and Arielle, now 21, is finishing up her third year at a special school in Georgia. Lydia is married to a certain handsome deputy and the pack is finally coming back together.**

 **I can't wait to share this story with you guys!**

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**PHASE 1**

* * *

"Congratulations to this year's graduating class!"

It was always a sound heard across the country on this hot summer's day in the middle of May or early June. Graduations caps were being thrown into the air, friends and family were giving out hugs and expressions of congratulations all while parents had their cameras out, ready to take pictures of their special college graduates.

"Would you both just hold still!?" Sheriff Stilinski asked for, what felt like, the thousandth time as his son was getting into a pose with his best friend, "Come on, guys! Just let me take the picture."

"Look at you!" Scott said excitedly, patting his best friend on the back.

"And look at you, man!" Stiles replied just as enthusiastically, recalling the day before when Scott graduated from his own school.

"What are we gonna do now?" Scott asked.

"Anything we want!" Stiles answered.

"Not yet!" the sheriff argued, "You will do nothing until you stop moving and smile for the damn picture!"

Stiles and Scott both straightened up and stopped moving. "Sorry, dad," Stiles muttered.

They smiled for the picture, the camera flashed, and the Sheriff sighed with relief. Later that afternoon, the Sheriff mentioned that he wanted to take Scott and Stiles out to lunch after the ceremony, just the three of them. It didn't seem like a bad idea at all, in fact, Stiles was more excited for the lunch than the actual ceremony. When they sat down in the diner back in the heart of Beacon Hills, the Sheriff got real quiet real fast before beginning his whole speech.

"So," he began, "Now that both of you have graduated, I have a proposition for you guys…" Both Stiles and Scott suddenly grew very quiet and still, "Rafael and I have seen a lot of grief come through Beacon Hills, a lot of it caused by… the you-know-what. Now that most of the town and the entire Sheriff's Department knows about… the you-know-what, we came up with a plan to protect the town, but it's only gonna work if we have you on board."

Stiles and Scott hadn't worried about supernatural problems in Beacon Hills since they left for school. It was like all the problems in the world had just melted away while they were trapped in their respective college bubbles. They didn't expect for the real world, or the supernatural world, to catch up to them so quickly once the fun fantasy of college was over.

"It's called the Beacon Hills Supernatural Criminal Investigative Service," the sheriff continued, "We refer to it as the SCIS. Scott, you will be our first executive special agent. Stiles, you'll be a senior detective. Both jobs seem quite appropriate for the two of you. This way, you can operate without interference from the Sheriff's Department, and it'll be a nice job for you to have after college. It also comes with housing in two of the warehouse lofts. It's a pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. Plus, Deaton's gonna be running the whole operation as the first Director of SCIS."

"Is this for just us?" Stiles asked, "Or when you say "you guys" do you mean the pack?"

The Sheriff nodded, "I mean your pack. Jordan's already got Lydia on board as a detective. She'll be your partner, Stiles."

Stiles couldn't argue with that.

"What about Kira?" Scott asked.

"I asked her last week," the sheriff answered, "She said yes in a heartbeat."

"That's perfect," Scott laughed, then looked at Stiles from his peripheral before asking the next question. He knew he had to tread lightly. "And Arielle?"

The air was dead as soon as Stiles turned his head to look at Scott. His lip almost trembled. His hands were getting cold. His heart was racing. 3 years, he thought.

Even though it was Scott's question, he answered it looking directly at his distraught son. "She accepted the job offer… she's coming back to Beacon Hills."

It started ringing in his ear once again. The last words he ever said to her. The last time he actually fought for her. He never wanted to remember it. In fact, he swore that he would try to forget, so he shoved that memory to the back of his mind, convincing himself that he had completely forgotten, but his father brought the memory back.

"A-Arielle…" Stiles heard his own voicemail whisper back like an old movie reel. He could hear the sound of his own broken voice and quickened breathing, "I know this is, like, the five hundredth time I've called you and like the four hundredth voicemail I've left… but I miss you, it it wasn't already obvious. To be perfectly honest with you, I'm still not exactly sure how things ended up this way. I don't know if it's because you're afraid of what might happen between us or if you'd rather save yourself the heartbreak… but I wanted to give us a chance. In fact, I still wanna give us a chance. But if you don't… then I guess I can't do anything about it…" He heard the sound of a deep and broken breath, which sounded like he was trying not to cry, "Just please take care of yourself… don't do anything stupid and protect yourself like always… I know you're gonna be great at whatever you end up doing. I wanted to be a part of that, but if you'd rather do it on your own, then I respect that decision. You should just know that as hard as I'll try to forget you and what we had… I don't think I'll ever be able to… Goodbye, Arielle…"

The message relayed over and over in his head, remembering that as the time he actually gave up, even though he swore he never would at the time. After he left that voicemail, he never spoke a word about her or to her for the last 3 years. Now she was coming back. What was he going to say to her? How was he going to react? Would he be able to keep it cool or would he just turn into an anxious emotional mess? How does she feel about it? Does she want to be friends? or is she finally willing to try things again now that school and stuff was out of the way?

"Dude," Scott said, snapping in front of Stiles's face before he started the car.

Stiles jumped in his own skin and with wide eyes, he turned to his best friend. "Yeah?"

"I asked you if you were okay with this," Scott repeated, placing his hands on the wheel and his foot on the gas as he pulled away from the diner to go to the warehouse with the directions the Sheriff gave him, "With Arielle coming back and everything."

He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. "Oh you know, it's just me seeing my ex-girlfriend for the first time in three years after she crushed my heart into a billion pieces. I'll be fine."

Scott frowned, "Well she's not getting here till tomorrow, so you have time to process it."

"Tomorrow?" Stiles asked anxiously, "That soon, huh?"

"Relax," Scott assured him, patting his shoulder, "It'll be nice to have the pack together again, doing what we do best; saving people's lives. We're all just gonna be civil and work together like we always have."

"I'm not sure how civil this'll be," Stiles argued, "Like I'm pretty sure Arielle never wants to see me again."

"You don't know that."

"Why? Has she ever talked to you about me?"

He paused. "No, but we don't know what's been going through her mind right now… maybe she wants a fresh start."

"Or maybe she's gonna take one look at me and run the other way," Stiles suggested, "She might even avoid making eye contact with me the entire time."

"Stiles… it's been three years. You've both had some time. Besides, you're not even gonna see her today. We're just seeing Kira, Lydia, and Jordan."

Stiles cringed and shook his head. "Jordan… do we have to call him that?"

"Stiles-."

"I know they're married and all, but do we have to call him _Jordan_? Can't I at least still call him deputy? _Jordan_ is just weird to me."

"He insisted," Scott explained, "and he's Lydia's husband, someone we're pretty close with. Don't you think it'd be weird if we still called him by the formal title we called him in high school?"

Stiles shuddered. "Whatever. It was her choice to marry someone seven years older than her. I'll just keep calling him Deputy as like a funny nickname. I'm a funny guy so they'll totally buy it."

"Sure," Scott said with a validating nod of his head.

They pulled up to the parking lot of a rather large one story building with large windows that were grayed with time. They remembered that building as the old warehouse at the edge of the town that everyone was too scared to approach. Now it had looked completely refurbished. Jordan Parrish stood next to Lydia, hand-in-hand, while Kira was bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement. Scott quickly tore the key out of the ignition and ran to Kira, not bothering to close his car door.

He picked her up in his strong arms and spun her around, this being one of the first time he's seen her in weeks.

"Congratulations," he whispered with a grin.

Kira smiled and kissed him, pulling him close to her as Jordan and Lydia watched, both awkwardly and sweetly. Stiles approached them, after frustratingly closing both his door and Scott's.

"Parrish," Stiles nodded, "Mrs. Parrish."

Lydia shivered, "Easy. I'm still getting used to that one."

Jordan grinned and shook hands with Stiles. "It's good to see you guys."

"Good to be back," Stiles nodded.

Jordan motioned towards the glass door of the building, which had letters that said S.C.I.S. on it.

"Shall we head inside?" Jordan offered.

The group entered through the door, Lydia and Jordan holding hands and Scott and Kira not leaving each other's side. That just left Stiles walking by himself. That definitely didn't feel good, especially considering what was coming in the VERY near future.

They walked straight into a carpeted room with desks lined up all against the wall and a flat screen monitor against one of the gates in the middle of the room which surrounded the staircase that lead downstairs.

"Welcome to S.C.I.S.," Jordan announced, "This is the main level office with desks for our three Field Agents. Equipped with computers, filing cabinets, and storage space for your weapons."

Jordan lead them down the stairs to a hallway with two doors on either side. "On your left, there's the detectives room." He winked at Lydia, who blushed back at her husband. "On the other side is the fully stocked interrogation room."

Another floor down was the morgue, where Deaton would be working. The very bottom floor, deep underground, would be the holding unit where they would keep potentially dangerous suspects. Outside, Jordan showed them the training field where Agents could keep up with their physical training, equipped with mats, targets, and punching bags. But the best part of the building was the plaque that rested next to the glass door.

The gold letters read "in loving memory: Allison Argent". It didn't feel like that long ago when Allison died, but it was only shortly after the disease left town when she crossed the street without looking and got hit by a car. Isaac was so distraught with guilt that he fled and left nothing but a note behind. Stiles knew that dedication would be something that Arielle, especially, would really like. Lydia just stared at it smiling as she leaned on her husband's shoulder.

Shortly after they finished looking at the building and setting up, they were to move into their apartments, which were only 5 minutes away from their office building. The building had two loft apartments per floor. On the 5th floor, there were two doors across from each other. The one of the left from the elevator belonged to Stiles. The one on the right of the elevator belonged to Scott and Kira; their first place together.

Of course both of them knew that they'd move in together eventually. It was one of the things they looked forward to the most when they skyped every weekend while at college. Kira was worried, since she had seen one too many TV episodes where couples break up the first year apart, but Scott was determined to prove her wrong. With constant communication, weekend skype dates, and constant visits, they actually managed to make it work, which surprised everyone. Much to Scott's surprise, there were really no other temptations to make him stray from Kira. His heart belonged to her. The same could be said for Stiles, although he secretly wished that wasn't how it happened. He had his fair share of flirtatious stare downs, but nothing more past that. He just couldn't bring himself to follow through even though he knew he should have fought harder.

It was fairly easy for Stiles to move into his own place. It was much more of a task to move Scott and Kira into the same place. They were both too humble to admit what they really wanted. It took Lydia's constantly prying and top notch organization skills in order for anything to actually get done. Jordan just sat back and laughed with pleasure as he watched his wonderful wife do her thing.

"Really!?" Lydia shouted, "You guys can't decide where to put the fucking lamp!?"

Jordan laid back against the wall next to the door as Stiles walked in.

"Was she like this when you guys moved in together?" Stiles asked.

"No way," Jordan shook his head, "I know who I married. I know better than to get in the way. All I had to do was answer her questions and let her work her magic. You guys should come over for dinner one night and see the house. It's really quite something."

"God, we're those weird adults who meet up for dinner and drink wine, aren't we?" Stiles panicked.

"If you'd rather we kick back with a beer and watch football, then I'm good with that too," Jordan teased.

"That is if I knew something about football," Stiles shrugged, "Hey, you like the Mets?"  
From outside the door, the elevator opened and chimed as a pair of legs stepped out with two large boxes in her arms.

"Hey Scott!"

Scott could hear the voice and he turned around sharply, his face filled with panic and shock.

"No, no, no," Scott whispered.

"What's wrong?" Kira asked.

"Did you invite her?" Scott asked, grabbing Kira's arm in fright.

"Well yeah," Kira said, "I thought we could use the extra hands. She is one of the strongest out of all of us anyway."

The woman who entered the apartment placed the boxes down on the ground with a thud and pat the top of it with her hand proudly, then fixing her newly red velvet highlighted black hair.

"Where do you want me to put these…"

Arielle trailed off when she caught sight of the one person she wanted to never see ever again. Her body tingled. Her jaw tightened. Her body pulsed.

"Arielle…" Stiles muttered.

Without even thinking twice, Arielle looked at her brother, who was rushing down the stairs of the loft with worry and panic in his eyes. Arielle frowned and scoffed, immediately exiting the room and pushing the down button on the elevator several times. This wasn't going to happen. Arielle was not going to have this conversation or deal with this problem. Not today.

"Arielle wait!" Scott shouted, running out the door and to his sister's side, "Can we talk about this?"

"Are you serious!?" Arielle yelled, "Both of you! You both knew I don't want to see him and yet you deliberately invited me here."

"We can work this out," Scott calmed her, "We can all sit down and talk and be civil-."

"I **don't** want to see him, Scott," Arielle hissed, "I never want to see him again!"

The doors to the elevator opened and Arielle marched inside, hitting the lobby button, then the close button. By now, Stiles, Jordan, Lydia, and Kira were all standing in the doorway, all concerned for the well-being of their friend whose sister just yelled at him even though they haven't seen each other in three years.

"That bad, huh?" Jordan remarked.

Scott, Lydia, Stiles, and Kira all nodded. "Worse."

* * *

 **AN: This is the last author's note I'll be giving for a while, since I'd rather just get to the story whenever I update, BUT this is one of few requests to PLEASE leave reviews and favorite and follow the story. I have so much more motivation to keep writing when you guys respond and give me feedback.**

 **Thanks!**


	2. I Solemnly Swear

At the induction ceremony, Scott, Arielle, Kira, Lydia, and Stiles stood, in that order, in front of Director Deaton with their right hands in the air, swearing to serve and protect those who who cannot protect themselves; the very same vow Allison Argent made before she died. After the Special Agents and Detectives were sworn in, it was time to get settled in. Arielle picked her ideal desk, right nearest to the door so Scott and Kira could push their desks together in the corner and be adorable. Sure, the romance door was pretty much closed for Arielle at this point, but that didn't mean she was going to let her brother be just as miserable as she was.

Speaking of being miserable, Stiles found it more and more difficult to push paperwork onto Arielle's desk and not say anything to her. He would just plop the stack down and then walk away while the phones kept ringing. Enough was enough.

"Morning," Stiles greeted as he walked into the office one morning.

Arielle was the only one in. Scott and Kira hadn't come in yet. The only two people who were in the office were Stiles and Arielle.

"How was your night?" Stiles asked, slowly walking towards the stairs.

"Fine," Arielle said, vigorously typing, not paying attention to him.

"Find anywhere cool to go for dinner?" Stiles asked again.

"No."

Stiles paused, trying to figure out if he was going to be the persistent one or the lenient one. Neither one seemed to have a positive outcome.

"So… the Emissary Academy, huh? How was that?"

"Draining," she answered bluntly.

"I bet you probably have some crazy stories-."

"I don't."

Silence filled the room. It was increasingly becoming more and more difficult for these two to work in the same service. Not only did they constantly have to see each other, but they also had to pass information along to one another. Often times, Kira, Scott, or Lydia would volunteer to do it just so they wouldn't have to deal with the awkward anxious tension between the two of them.

"Do you have to stand there like that?" Arielle asked.

"Oh hey!" Stiles cheered, "An answer longer than 2 syllables."

Scott and Kira rolled into the office shortly after, all smiles on their faces and love filling their eyes. That melted away when they saw the distance Stiles was standing away from Arielle while they looked at each other, one definitely more angry than the other.

The phone rang just in time. Scott rushed to his desk and picked up.

"SCIS Executive Agent McCall speaking," Scott answered, a tad out of breath.

Arielle, Kira, and Stiles all watched, leaning in closer to hear.

"Be right there," Scott said as he jotted down notes on a tiny piece of paper. He hung up the phone and looked at each of his co. workers, "Dead body found in the woods by the highway. Signs of an animal attack."

"Which we all know is code for supernatural shit has gone down," Stiles said, turning right around, being the first one out the door, "I'm driving the cool van!"

"Shotgun!" Kira yelled, chasing after him.

When the van pulled up, the police already had the zone tapped up. All too excitedly, each member of SCIS showed off their badges to get let in for official crime scene investigation. Lydia had already arrived with her husband, since he was the one who got the call first.

"Hey…" Stiles said, approaching his detective partner, "What do we got here?"

"Completely dismembered body," Lydia answered, cringing at the victim, "Looks like limbs were torn off and parts of her body were bitten into."

"She was found after a hiker found a dismembered pinky toe on the side of the road," Jordan added.

"So there are probably more pieces of her scattered all over the place," Lydia continued.

Kira quickly gasped from the other side of the scene and interrupted, "Like a jigsaw puzzle."

The other members of the sheriff's department were always frustrated with how the SCIS team seemed to hear and communicate with each other from great distances.

"Ooh! Let's make it a game!" Arielle suggested, "The one who finds the least pieces buys drinks tonight. Ready… GO!"

Jordan glared at Lydia as if to sarcastically say, "SCIS certainly maintains a certain level of… professionalism". Lydia shrugged, as if to say back "Uh huh, and you married one of them". Stiles chuckled to himself quietly, but decided to look away before he could wedge himself in the middle. Adult life seemed pretty cool thus far. From the bushes arose Kira, Arielle, and Scott, all carrying dismembered body parts.

"Alright, tally!" Arielle said, "I've got five toes, half of the right leg, the top half of the left leg, a full hand missing an index finger, a left index finger, and a right shoulder. That makes me the lead with 10."

"Oh! I have the left shoulder," Kira said, "I've also found the rest of the right arm, two feet, and four toes. I'm at 8."

"and I have the rest of both legs," Scott said proudly, "the right index finger, and the left hand."

"That gives you four!" Arielle cheered, "I win! You lose! HA! Who's top dog now!?"

"In order to be top dog, one has to be a dog," Scott bragged.

"Could we perhaps resume this stereotypical sibling fight later?" Lydia intervened.

Arielle and Scott shrugged, but the sister managed to stick her tongue out at her brother quickly before anyone else but him could see. Stiles caught sight of it, however, and choked down a laugh, knowing the consequence if he let any positive feelings towards Arielle show.

Back at SCIS headquarters, each agent and detective were in their respective places, doing as much research as they possibly could. Stiles and Lydia were searching through the thousands of pages in the bestiary, which was generously donated by the Argent family. Meanwhile, upstairs, Kira identified the victim as a young Miss Lily Reynolds. Age 17 years old. A student enrolled in Beacon Hills High School. When everyone came together to deliver the news to Director Deaton in the main office, he immediately gave orders to go investigate the school.

"Detective Stilinski," Deaton said, "I trust you can handle this particular assignment."

"Sure," Stiles nodded, gesturing towards Lydia.

"Take Arielle with you," Deaton said casually and quickly.

He left without even saying a word and returned back to the morgue to finishing attempting to put Miss Reynolds back together again. Everyone knew this would be awkward. Arielle wasn't even looking at Stiles, who clearly was staring at her. Kira and Scott quietly returned to their desks as Arielle grabbed her bag. Lydia tapped Stiles on the shoulder and returned to the floor below them.

Arielle gave him a nod as the began to exit.

"I'm driving," Arielle said seriously.

Stiles was going to object or make a joke or something, but Arielle didn't seem to be in the joking mood, which was something he was completely not used to dealing with when it came to her. It was like he was seeing a completely new side of her; a side that brought out the fighter inside of her that was always bubbling and boiling there, waiting to burst into full bloom.

The van pulled up to the school and Arielle practically tore out the key from the ignition, slamming the door behind her as she marched towards the entrance of the school.

"God, this feels like walking back into the Twilight Zone," Stiles commented.

Arielle could have done one of two things. 1) Laugh along and make small talk, or 2) Call him out on his poor attempt to create a conversation with her and move on. What she ended up doing was ignoring him entirely. Considering she wanted this to be as professional and non-emotional as possible, that definitely seemed like the better route to choose. But that task was becoming more and more difficult as she passed through the school. Everything reminded her of those days back in High School. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the tree in the middle of the courtyard.

* * *

 _The bell rang. The final bell of the morning. The bell that meant it was finally time for lunch. Sometimes students from different grades would have classes together, which is how Arielle and Stiles were so blessed to be in the same English class last year. However, this year they weren't so fortunate. Arielle and Stiles had managed to pick all the same classes together, but got into none of them. So instead, they would sit on the edge of their seats until the final bell in the morning so they could rush to lunch, and then wait until the final bell in the afternoon so they could rush to the Jeep and rip each other's clothes off._

 _Arielle almost ran out of the classroom, disregarding the judgmental glares she got from her fellow peers. She even past her own brother without saying anything, even though he was trying to get her attention. Stiles fumbled his way out of the double doors, landing in the courtyard. He anxiously looked around, scratching the back of his head to seem as casual as possible. No sign of her just yet. His heart was racing. He had so much to tell her, so much to celebrate with her. This was by far one of the happiest days of his life and he couldn't wait to share it with the girl he loved more than anything in this world (even more than his jeep)._

 _Stiles could tell Arielle had just run into the courtyard by the way her hair fell gently to her sides when she arrived and he first caught sight of her. The two of them grinned at each other and raced towards the tree, seeing who could get there first. Today, however, Arielle decided to let him win. She wanted to get there last so she could run into his arms with a smile on her face._

 _Her body collided with his and he squeezed her tightly to his body, kissing her fiercely and desperately. Arielle wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her, wanting to feel as much heat as possible. Stiles backed away for a second, feeling how frisky she was getting._

 _"Whoa, whoa," Stiles halted, "You're getting all touchy? What if Scott sees?"_  
 _"Fuck it," Arielle said excitedly, "Let he and Kira watch in jealousy as they wish they were us."_

 _"God I fucking love you," Stiles growled, pushing Arielle against the tree and kissing her passionately, teasingly placing his hands underneath her shirt to her bare sides._

 _Suddenly, the whistle blew and scared both of them immensely. Arielle even screamed a little bit._

 _"McCall! Stilinski!" Coach Finstock yelled, "Can't you two scoundrels at least wait until the end of the day like everybody else! I ought to have the both of you suspended in-school for all the public displays of affection that have constantly burned my eyeballs out of their sockets every day. But I'm not gonna do that… because I'm the in-school suspension supervisor and the thought of getting you two in a small room alone for two weeks is already physically producing vomit in my mouth. So BREAK IT UP!"_

* * *

To this day, Stiles still loathes Coach Finstock more than anything for interrupting such a beautiful moment under that tree. That tree was their spot; their place during school hours. He bet all the change in his pocket (which there was none) that the initials SS+AM were still carved into that tree from when Arielle did it with her pocket knife that very same day.

They pushed past the double doors to the school and it was like the floodgates of memories had opened. Ghosts of their younger selves filled the halls. They could see themselves, laughing and giggling as they chased each other into the janitor's closet, and then hear the sound of frantic moans following shortly after. But they were on a mission. They were told to go to the counselor's office to discuss Lily Reynold's social life in school. The office was just past the library.

"Hey," Arielle heard Stiles's voice.

She looked around her location, trying to figure out where he could possibly be, then she looked through the empty shelf and she saw him wave, which startled her and made her drop her book.

"Whoa!" he gasped, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..." she nodded, bending down to slowly pick up her book, "I'm fine."

"Good," he said, "Cause you've been acting a little weird lately."

"Me? Weird?" she scoffed, "I'm fine. Nothing's wrong with me. I'm good."

"Good?" he asked, raising his eyebrows, "You didn't say 2 words during lunch."

"I'm the new kid at school, I don't say anything during lunch," she lied.

"That can't be true," Stiles said, "You're my..." his voice fell to an even quieter whisper, "You're my girlfriend... I know when you're lying to me."

"Do you?" she asked, leaning against the empty slot in the book shelf, "Do you really know when I'm lying?"

He paused and repeated the same action, "I really do."

"You know, that's the first time you've called me... what you called me... since we got back..." she said, biting subtly on her lower lip, "I like it."

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked, his eyes widening. He wanted to step back, but at the same time, he wanted to keep listening to her.

"Nothing..." she said softly, continuing to bite on her lip, knowing exactly what it would do to him, "I'm just thinking about you... that's all." Then she winked.

His voice returned back to that quiet whisper as he looked around him, "Alright, if you keep doing that thing with your lip, we're going to have to take this to the janitor's closet or some secluded corner where we can't be found."

"Sorry," she said, standing up straight and opening her book again.

"Don't apologize," he responded, "I'm never sorry that I have a hot girlfriend."

Arielle threw her head against the books behind her and sighed, "I promise you, Stiles, you will be able to say that confidently and above a small whisper soon."

"I can be patient," he said proudly.

"Sure you can," she shook her head.

"Why are you shaking your head?" he asked suspiciously.

"No reason," she chuckled.

"Arielle Marissa McCall," he joked, "If we weren't in hiding, I would come over there and teach you a lesson."

"I think you've taught me enough lessons over the last several weeks, Stilinski," she said in a much lower register.

"You know what I'm going to do?" he said proudly, "I am going to go to the boys locker room and forget this conversation ever happened."

"Have fun in your cold shower," Arielle laughed.

Stiles mocked her laughing and then headed out the door in a strut that made her laugh with delight.

There was a young couple standing in the same corner, whispering sweet nothings to each other through the bookshelf. The girl giggled and flipped her hair while the boy shyly crossed his arms and smiled, his cheeks turning a little red. Young love. It's a shame, Arielle thought. She almost wanted to go over there and tell them that it doesn't last, that they should just prepare themselves for the worst while they still can. With a sigh to let it go, Arielle trudged forward and Stiles quickly followed behind her.

The door to the counselor's office was wide open. Stiles took three sharp knocks on the door and the woman sitting at the desk looked up.

"Dr. Clayton?" Stiles asked.

The woman, a little confused, stood up, "Yes?"

"We're with Beacon Hills SCIS," Arielle said, both of them flashing their badges, "I'm Special Agent McCall. This here is Detective Stilinski."

"Of course! The Sheriff's Station told me you were coming," Dr. Clayton said, soon softening up as she adjusted the two chairs in front of her desk, "May I offer you to sit?"

"Thank you," Arielle nodded as they both took a seat.

"By now, I'm sure you're aware of the condition of one of your former students and 'clients', Miss Lily Reynolds," Stiles said, taking out his notepad.

"I am," Dr. Clayton answered, "Such a tragedy…"

"Anything you'd like to tell us about Lily's social life?" Stiles continued, "Was she popular? Perhaps she may have made some enemies?"

"Enemies," Dr. Clayton frowned, "She wasn't a very popular girl, but her problem was being ignored… I suppose everyone just left her alone."

"What about close friends?" Stiles asked again, "Anyone she may have confided in at some point."

Dr. Clayton nodded, "She did at first… but they graduated two years ago. After they graduated, Lily did feel a little abandoned."

"Could you tell us the names and possible locations of these former students?" Arielle asked, "Perhaps a phone number or address?"

"Why yes, they just go to the college downtown," Dr. Clayton answered, "They were very sweet kids; very protective and loyal to Lily while they were all together." She rose from her chair and opened a file cabinet of student records. She pressed her fingers against each folder and she pushed them aside all the way to a specific graduating class. They were the first ones there. "Ah! Yes. Their names were Hayden Romero, Mason Hewitt, and Liam Dunbar. Is this useful information?"


	3. Pictures

About 15 minutes outside of the town limits of Beacon Hills was a little college where most of the graduating classes of Beacon Hills High School applied to, mainly because it was the best option for education that was also closest to home. Three students in particular came to love this school; Hayden Romero, Mason Hewitt, and Liam Dunbar; or as Stiles likes to call them "the dream team next generation". Turns out, they were now prime suspects in the investigation of the murder of Lily Reynolds. After all, Dr. Clayton did say those three were the only ones who made constant contact with Lily during her freshmen year. The fact that Lily didn't talk to anyone after the fact made it even a little more suspicious.

Kira and Lydia hopped in a car and drove over to the college to pay their old friends a little visit. Kira called Liam and asked him if they could ask him, his girlfriend, and best friend a few questions about an old friend of theirs. They gladly accepted.

"Lily?" Mason asked as they all sat in the quad of the school on a sunny day, "Nobody really knew she even went there until we started noticing her and talking to her."

"Yeah, and after that she started opening up a little bit more," Hayden added.

"Do you think she was…" Kira hesitated to find the right word to ask in the middle of a crowded quad.

"Supernatural," Lydia bluntly finished, causing Kira to tense up and look around before relaxing and focused her attention back.

"If she was, we couldn't tell," Hayden answered.

"Well she did kinda give off that vibe," Liam added, "Loud noises bothered her, like they were much louder to her than anyone else."

"She also mentioned sents that I couldn't smell but Liam and Hayden could," Mason said, "Maybe she was a werewolf like them?"

Liam and Hayden shrugged.

"She never talked about getting bitten or anything," Liam recalled.

"But if she was born one," Lydia finished, "That would explain why she kept to herself…"

"She didn't wanna spill the family secret," Kira said.

In the very depths of the SCIS headquarters, kept at a cool temperature, was the morgue where Director Deaton set up the majority of his work away from his main office on the second floor of the building. Scott was with the director, taking notes on his notepad as the director relayed the details of his findings on Lily Reynold's beating and torn apart body. Her limbs were scattered all over the place, but there is a significant amount of flesh missing when you try to put her back together, appearing as though someone tore her apart and devoured the flesh before throwing the rest of it away. On her stomach were bite marks that seemed to go all the way through her torso.

"Wendigo," Scott said quietly.

By the end of the day, after gathering all of the information they had thus far, Lydia was the first to pack up her stuff and head towards the door, reminding Scott that he was supposed to buy drinks because he lost the bet. Arielle took great delight in this.

When they arrived at the bar, they gathered in a booth towards the back. In order it was Arielle, Kira, Scott, Lydia, Jordan, and Stiles. Stiles and Arielle sitting as far away as possible from each other at Arielle's silent request. With that awkward factor eliminated, the evening went on swimmingly. Each of the friends were able to separate themselves from work life and relive some hilarious and insane stories about college over the last couple years. Lydia relished in the fact that she was able to make her husband feel out of place since it he had been out of college much longer than they had.

"Ugh, I can't tell you how annoying it was," Lydia groaned, resting her hand on her husband's knee, "Do you know how difficult it is to be married before you graduate college? Every single professor I ever had pulled me aside and asked me if I preferred being called Ms. Martin or Mrs. Parrish. And I'm like, 'Just call me Lydia…' because what else would you call me!"

"Her friends definitely needed some time to get used to it," Jordan teased, "Every time I'd pick her up from classes or to go to lunch, they'd always call me Mr. Lydia Martin and use their phone apps to make whipping noises."

"Ooh, that's good one," Stiles perked up, "What app are they using?"

Jordan laughed. Lydia groaned.

"Those guys were just mad because they couldn't be at the wedding," Kira said.

"Because we didn't invite them for a reason," Lydia sassed.

"That's their loss," Jordan said, squeezing his wife's shoulder, "Our wedding was absolutely perfect. By far the happiest day of my life. We had my parents there, you guys, great food, beautiful weather, and this one looking as stunning as ever…"

Lydia grinned and they both gave each other that look that only two people who are going to love each other forever give. Arielle watched that look. It almost broke her heart all over again simply because she was remembering what she wanted; what she craved for before everything changed. Just as Jordan pulled her in to kiss her, Stiles pulled out his phone and struck it in the air, causing a whip noise to come out. Everyone laughed from the pit of their guts except for Arielle, who only let out an airy chuckle.

"Anyone want a refill?" Arielle asked, starting to get up from the table.

Scott, Lydia, Kira, and Parrish all raised their glasses towards her. Stiles saw a girl in need of a few hands and seized the opportunity that lay before him.

"Here, let me help you with that," Stiles said, getting up from the table, which caused a wave of silence to fall over everyone.

Arielle silently bit her tongue, for now, and started to head towards the bar, placing two of the glasses on the counter. Stiles followed shortly after, placing the other two next to the ones she previously set down.

"Did you seriously have to follow me?" Arielle asked quietly.

Stiles scoffed, "Do you think I did this to talk to you alone?"

Arielle raised her eyebrows and shifted her weight so her hip stuck out on her right side. Stiles used to call this her 'don't bullshit me, Stiles' look.

"Okay, so maybe," Stiles said, causing Arielle to groan and throw her hands in her hair, "Look, this whole not talking to each other thing is getting old, don't you think?"

"I was doing just fine, actually," Arielle said.

"But no one else is fine. Especially me. I am NOT fine."

"Then fix it!" Arielle argued, "I don't know what else to tell you."

"How about, let's be friends," Stiles said. Arielle flashed that same look again, "Okay, would you just hear me out, please? I can be friends with you. I know I can do it. Frankly, we NEED to make that work for the sake of our friends and the pack and our work. How is this agency supposed to run if two gears won't work together?"

"Are you seriously giving me a car analogy right now?"

"I was trying to make it sound not like a car analogy…"

"Well you failed."

"See! This is good! We're communicating!"

On one end, Arielle was frustrated. Actually, she was BEYOND frustrated. She broke up with Stiles for a reason; a reason that was supposed to put an end to all her suffering and heartache. For three years she had her space and it was glorious. In fact, she never had so much fun. Granted, the situation she was in made it a little difficult to have fun in general, but during her free time, she did actually have a ton of fun. Then she got the job and it all came crashing down; all the heartache again. Now she just had to take it with a grain of salt and pretend it didn't happen? Any of it? She looked over her shoulder at her brother with his arm around her best friend. The smiles on their faces. The happiness. Maybe Stiles was right. Being okay with EVERYONE on the team would make it run smoother. Seeing any of those people sitting in that booth upset would be a great burden on her.

"Fine," Arielle sighed, "but I'm not doing this for you."

"Yes!" Stiles cheered, "As threatening as that sounded, I will gladly accept it."

Arielle was almost too relieved when the drinks came back the very next moment. They could be friends, but that didn't mean Arielle was ready to start talking about more than just the weather with Stiles yet.

The next day, all of the agents and detectives gathered around to share the information they had thus far. So far, all they knew was that there was a lonely student/possible born werewolf who didn't want to interact with anyone else other than the other supernatural students in the school at the time. However, when those friends graduated, she was alone again, making her vulnerable to someone who may have been after her, specifically a Wendigo.

"Something's missing…" Arielle whispered, "The Wendigo… this couldn't have been just any other Wendigo… not one that would willingly just go after a werewolf."

Lydia and Stiles headed down the morgue a few moments later and pulled out the dismembered body of Lily Reynolds. Perhaps taking a look at the body will generate some sort of feelings, maybe Lily's feelings right before she died, Lydia contemplated as they walked down the stairs.

When Stiles pulled the body out, Lydia stood closely beside her, taking deep breaths in, ignoring the rancid scent. Hesitantly, she moved her hand towards the forehead of the girl and shut her eyes tight, trying to pull out the last thing she was feeling before she died. But all Lydia could see were flashes of a very special night to her; a night on a boat on the coast with lanterns and lights at night, the face of her husband getting down on one knee, asking her to marry him. Lydia felt her own heart racing again, just as it did that night. She quickly took her hand away from Lily's forehead and gasped.

"What? What is it?" Stiles asked, "Did you feel anything?"

Lydia nodded slowly, "Lily was happy when she died…" It took Stiles a minute to process that, but she continued anyway, "even worse, actually… she was in love."

"There's no sign of a struggle or anything? Not even fear."

She shook her head, "No… she was unapologetically in love."

With this newfound information, Scott, Kira, and Arielle returned to the High School with a warrant to look through Lily's locker, to see if there were any signs of a romantic relationship.

On the inside of the door was a picture of the sweet, innocent looking girl in a selfie with a skinny dark haired boy with a smile on his face. The picture with stained with her lipstick kiss mark. Scott found a note hidden in one of the textbooks.

"I don't know how I'll be able to get through English without staring at you longingly, waiting for you to fall into my arms.

XOXO

Anderson"

Arielle scoffed. "That's the best he can do? It doesn't even rhyme!"

"Anderson," Scott repeated, "That's who we need to find."

"You're looking for Anderson?" a small voice asked.

Scott, Kira, and Arielle all tilted their heads from behind the locker door to see a skinny and tall boy with dark hair, the same one from the picture on Lily's door, standing there with his backpack on and a frightened expression. Scott quickly closed the locker, as though keeping it open would add onto the pain this poor kid must be feeling.

"Are you him?" Arielle asked.

"Yes…" Anderson answered shyly.

"Hi," Scott said, "I'm Special Agent McCall. This is Special Agent Yukimura and-."

"VERY Special Agent McCall," Arielle added to ease the tension, "We're with Beacon Hills SCIS investigating the murder of Lily Reynolds. We have reason to believe you were in a romantic relationship with Miss Reynolds, is that correct?"

Anderson nodded sadly.

"Is there anything you want to tell us?" Kira asked, "Did she have any enemies? Anyone she may have upset?"

He shook his head again, "I don't know anything…"

Arielle shot her brother a look and he nodded back, listening intently to the boy's heartbeat. He nodded back to her and Arielle blinked her eyes once to stare at him with her special eyes. Once both siblings had finished their job, they dismissed the boy.

"Wendigo," Arielle said.

"And he was lying too," Scott added.

"Then that's definitely the culprit," Kira concluded.

"We're looking at a crime of passion here," Arielle said.

At the end of the day, all the agents and detectives reconvened on the main office level. Together, they theorized that Lily was alone and had no one to turn to but Anderson, however, since she is a born werewolf, it was possible that he may have seen her as a threat to his safety. So, in order to keep himself safe, he tricked her into thinking she could trust him. Perhaps things went a little too far than he expected and they actually had genuine feelings for each other. When the time seemed right, he lead her into the woods and slaughtered her.

It was the tragic story that relayed in everyone's head long after they were dismissed and went home. Arielle stayed up to go outside to the training field, when she came back inside, she hadn't realized that it was already 12:30 am and she had several missed calls from her mother, who was desperately wondering where she was out this hour at night. She came back to the office to gather the rest of her stuff, tight clothes damp with sweat, hair pulled back into a ponytail which was now growing wavy thanks to the texture of her hair combined with the dampness of her sweat. She was surprised to see that Stiles was still up, sitting at her brother's desk typing something rather vigorously.

"Are you sleuthing?" Arielle asked, "It's after midnight. You should go home."

"Were you training?" Stiles asked, not looking away from the screen, "It's after midnight. You should go home."

Arielle chuckled and picked up the last of her things, heading towards the door. "Don't stay up too late or you'll fall asleep here and Scott might arrive early to draw a penis on your forehead."

"It's okay, he doesn't show up that early anyway," Stiles shrugged.

"Not unless I tell him to."

Stiles shook his head and laughed, immediately coughing to hide it.

"Don't worry about it," Stiles assured her, "I just… got a lot on my mind."

"We all got a lot on our minds nowadays…"

"No, it's just this case in particular," Stiles said, tapping in the computer screen, "If Anderson was really falling for her, like all of those notes in Lily's locker implied, then how could he have brought himself to do it? Why would a man want to ruin something so great? How could he do that to someone he loves?"

Arielle sighed and walked to the door, then stopped and glanced back at him, responding quietly. "You really don't want me to answer that question…"

Without another glance, Arielle pushed the glass door open and left the building. Stiles was going to argue, but let it be. She was right after all. Whatever answer she was going to give him, he probably didn't want to hear it anyway. But the memory of what happened were like scars all over him now. Some of the scars were easily hidden, while others he tried to hide, but they would show anyway. He could hide them all he wanted, but they were scars after all, and scars never really do go away.


	4. Bending and Breaking

_"God I fucking love you," Stiles growled, pushing Arielle against the tree and kissing her passionately, teasingly placing his hands underneath her shirt to her bare sides._

 _Suddenly, the whistle blew and scared both of them immensely. Arielle even screamed a little bit._

 _"McCall! Stilinski!" Coach Finstock yelled, "Can't you two scoundrels at least wait until the end of the day like everybody else! I ought to have the both of you suspended in-school for all the public displays of affection that have constantly burned my eyeballs out of their sockets every day. But I'm not gonna do that… because I'm the in-school suspension supervisor and the thought of getting you two in a small room alone for two weeks is already physically producing vomit in my mouth. So BREAK IT UP!"_

 _The coach blew his whistle one last time, causing Arielle to jump in her own skin as she watched him leave. Stiles frowned and turned back to his girlfriend._

 _"I swear, I hate him more now for interrupting the moment," Stiles muttered, twisting her long curls with his index finger._

 _"Hey..." Arielle said quietly, placing her hand on his cheek, "I'm still here. The moment's not gone. I can see that look on your face."_

 _"What look?" Stiles asked, surprised._

 _"That look that says you wanna tell me something," she answered, "So what is it? What happened?"_

 _"Well, I did a little research earlier," Stiles said, "and I've actually learned a lot about what you are."_

 _"Did you, now?" Arielle asked._

 _"For sure," he said, "Like for one, we can actually just call you a Naiad instead of water nymph, which is kinda weird to say anyway. Also, did you know that the ancient greek water spirit inside you took over your body when you were born and that when you die, it'll leave you to rest and move on to the next child?"_  
 _"I know that, Stiles. There's an ancient greek spirit inside me that told me. Although, I didn't actually know about the Naiad thing. I like it."_

 _"You won't believe that pages and pages of research I have-."_

 _"That's nice and all, but you and I both know that's not why you actually came over here," Arielle said, crossing her arms, "So go on. Spit it out. I know you're dying to tell me."_

 _"I kinda am..." Stiles said excitedly, placing his hands on the sides of her upper arms, "I got in!"_

 _"I knew you would," Arielle said with a sly and sassy grin._

 _"I know!" he cheered, "Now I'm in a great school and it's only 45 minutes out of town, so I can come back whenever I want; I probably won't even have to live on campus if I want to. I can stay here and I can be here for you during your senior year…"_

 _Stiles trailed on and on about how excited he was. He kept saying that nothing would have to change. Everything could stay exactly the same and Stiles believed that wholeheartedly. Arielle knew he did because he was Stiles and Stiles never liked big changes. This was exactly what he wanted. Stiles was convinced that everything was going to be fine. Meanwhile, Arielle couldn't help but feel that this was the beginning of the end._

 _The conflicted Arielle McCall drove all the way home with Stiles in the Jeep. Stiles continued to ramble on and on about the education program and the criminology program and how he was going to come back to Beacon Hills and become a sheriff or a math teacher or a coach; one that was far better than his coach now. He parked in front of the McCall house and looked around, seeing if Scott's motorcycle was in the driveway. he disappointingly sighed, but rolled up the tinted windows of the jeep before grabbing his beautiful girlfriend and planting a hard kiss on her lips. Arielle pulled away and smiled before exiting the vehicle._

 _Arielle got into the house and immediately went up to her room, pushing her door open and falling onto her bed with a groan. Scott heard this dramatic sound and sneaked across the hall._

 _"Hey, you're back early," Scott said, looking at the clock on his phone with a chuckle, "It's Friday. Stiles didn't at least TRY to have sex with you in the back of the jeep?"_

 _"I didn't even give him the chance," Arielle answered._

 _Scott widened his eyes, "I was joking but… is something wrong?"_

 _Arielle lifted her head, her face covered in hair. "I think my descent into despair has begun."_

 _Scott laughed and sat on her bed, "Now why's that?"_

 _She stopped and sighed before answering, "What do you think about going away to college? As far as you and Kira are concerned, I mean."_

 _"We're gonna make it work," Scott said without any hesitation._

 _"You said that awfully fast."_

 _He shrugged, "That's because there really isn't any doubts between us… I mean, I guess it's too soon to say, but I do see a future with Kira, and so does she. We've talked about it several times. We're in this for the long haul. I couldn't imagine it any other way."_

 _He couldn't imagine it any other way. They've talked about it several times. Of course, Stiles and Arielle were in a great place in their relationship, but something was off. Something was different between them. They weren't Scott and Kira._

 _As the weeks started to go by, even Stiles started to notice a change in Arielle. She used to be excited to see him with a bright smile on her face and a little sparkle in her eye. But now, each time he saw her, the sparkle started to fade and the smile slowly turned into a grin. The way she'd tell him she loved him turned from a statement of passion and deep admiration turned into a sweet sentiment. Whenever Arielle was with Stiles, she'd turn her head and see Liam and Hayden, two Sophomores holding hands and whispering sweet nothings in each other's ears; not a care in the world. There was no talk of the future or change or worries about what's gonna happen later._

 _Months on months began to go by. Stiles and Arielle had been dating for over a year now, going on two years pretty soon. She was in love. She had a loving boyfriend. That's what got her through the worst of her doubts and fears. Arielle continued to live as though nothing was wrong._

 _It was becoming more and more difficult to hide her uneasiness by the time graduation finally came. Sure, there was a smile on her face, but she was sad that the four most important people in her life were leaving. Her helper in times of struggle. Her best friend. Her own brother. The man she loved. Soon, she would walk down the halls by herself, feeling cold without her pack. The omega._

 _A few days after graduation, Stiles came over to hang out with Arielle. Five minutes into casual conversation and Stiles was moving in on her, inching closer and closer, his lips quivering as though they were thirsting for her own lips to touch his. He brought her into a kiss, his hand resting on the small of her back. For just a few moments, her mind turned numb and she was able to let herself go, just to be with him, to move with him, to feel him, and to have him overwhelm her._

 _However, right after they finished, they fell underneath her covers and were entangled in each other's arms, skin-to-skin, breathing heavily together. Except Arielle didn't smile or say anything, rather she just stared at the ceiling. Stiles leaned on his side, his eyebrows furrowing together._

 _"What's up with you?" he asked._

 _She turned her head sharply. "Me?"_  
 _"Yeah… you've been acting… different."_

 _She shrugged. "I'm not acting different."_  
 _Stiles glared at her. It was that glare that said 'don't bullshit me, Arielle'._

 _"It's nothing," Arielle sighed, "I guess I'm just… scared."_

 _"Scared?" Stiles asked, suddenly consumed with worry, "Why are you scared? Is it because we're all going to college?"_

 _"Of course it's because all of my friends, my support system, since I've moved to Beacon Hills is gone…"_  
 _Stiles looked sad as he looked down at the sheets of the bed, wondering if this was the last time he would be sitting like this with her. He looked at her again with those same sad eyes that he tried to hide._

 _"No…" Arielle whispered, scooting in closer to him, "Don't give me that look like something is broken between us… because it isn't broken… maybe it's bent a little bit, but sometimes things that are bent move better than they did before. You know?" She leaned upward and kissed him on his lips._

 _"I may be over there," Stiles responded, "but I will always be right here." He moved his index finger to her heart, the moved his hand to rest on her shoulder, feeling her soft tan skin._

 _Then the summer started to arrive. They didn't have to worry about classes or doing homework or studying for something important. There wasn't any work that had to be done. There were no supernatural disasters coming to ruin everything. For once, everything was very peaceful. More peaceful than Beacon Hills had ever been. As great as that was, Arielle was still asking a thousand questions in her mind. Was the relationship going to work if Stiles was so far away? Was it even worth a try? Do all relationships really crumble during college? Is it even possible to make it work? Are Scott and Kira just being naïve or can they really do it? Finally, after another night with Stiles while her parents were on vacation, Arielle decided it was worth it to give it a few more years before she would make any kind of choice. Sure, it would lead to a little heartbreak if things didn't go her way, but a life without Stiles was terrifying to her at the time. She wasn't about to give it up so quickly._

 _Senior year started with a blink of an eye. There wasn't a big long and drawn out goodbye because Stiles was more than confident that this wasn't goodbye. He would come and visit all the time that there was no need to part as though it would be a lifetime before they would see each other again. In fact, within the first month of her senior year, Arielle took a road trip on a weekend to the college to surprise him._

 _Unfortunately, it was proving harder to find him than she thought it'd be. She assumed he'd be sitting in his room, which he rented off campus with Scott, sleuthing or doing some kind of unnecessary research like he always does. Instead, she texted her brother, asking him where they were. He answered that they were at a party on Stiles's campus and were planning on walking back to the apartment later that evening._

 _Arielle wasn't the kind of girl who would just sit on the couch while she quietly waited for her man to come home, so instead, she got up and followed the instructions her brother sent her to get to the party. At the door, she was greeted by a slightly intoxicated big brother/college freshmen._

 _"Sister!" he shouted, pulling her in for a bear hug which reeked of cheap beer, "I can't believe you're here! Let me show you around!"_

 _Arielle cringed a little bit as she entered into the random house she had never seen before with big greek letters printed on literally everything. "Where's Stiles?" she finally asked as they walked into the main event; tens of hundreds of drunk college students grinding against each other._

 _"Stiles?" Scott asked, "I think he's over there."_  
 _Scott pointed in the direction towards the DJ. She uncomfortably pushed past sweaty and disgusting students, a few of which smelled heavily of weed, and made her way towards the space directly below the turn tables, which were on an elevated platform. There, she saw a bunch of women wearing very decorative bikini tops and jeans. In the middle of them? Stiles. Dancing. The other girls enjoyed him a little too much for Arielle's liking. And, of course, Arielle happened to arrive to the scene just as one of the girls pressed herself against him, grazing her tongue against his neck. It was like a bad dream rolled up in a living hell. For 2 years she loved this guy and gave everything to him. Now she was standing here watching this happen._

 _Stiles giggled at the girl who licked him, then looked around, a little dazed. His eyes met Arielle's and he squinted, suddenly stricken with fear._

 _"Hey Angela?" Stiles said, tapping the girl's shoulder, clearly drunk, "I don't think you should have done that…"_

 _"Why?" Angela asked._

 _"Because I think I'm getting hallucinations or something… I think I see my girlfriend standing in front of me."_

 _"That's not a hallucination," Arielle spat, crossing her arms and storming out of the place._

 _Stiles's eyes widened immediately. This time he was struck with a very real fear; the fear of letting Arielle leave without him explaining what she may or may not have seen. He chased her out of the house and onto the sidewalk, nearly tripping over his own feet several times._

 _"Wait! Wait!" Stiles screamed._

 _"Why?" Arielle fumed, "So you can explain how good it felt to be touched by other women, no thank you."_

 _"Would you please just listen to me?" Stiles begged, finally reaching Arielle and grabbing her arm to turn her around._

 _"How is this supposed to make me feel, Stiles?" she said, tears forming in her eyes, "Here I am trying SO hard to convince myself that everything is going to be okay and I come here only to see you surrounded by college girls who are older and more experienced and thinner than me."_

 _"You never cared about any of that," Stiles said, touching her shoulders with his hands, "Just please, baby, hear me out."_

 _"No," Arielle spat, "You're drunk. Even if I was going to tell you about how I want a real future with you, you're just going to forget it anyway, so I'm done here. I'm not gonna stand here any longer. Why don't you call me when you're sober."_

 _Arielle drove home that very same night, not bothering to find Scott or anything. She just left a voicemail on his phone and drove home as fast as she could, knowing Beacon Hills seemed like a better place to be right now. But on the way back, she had her own thoughts, which could be a very dangerous thing sometimes. It's true, she thought. There was an elephant in the room that only she noticed every time she was with Stiles; the future, marriage, careers, all the things adults have to worry about. Scott and Kira talked about having a serious future together and getting married all the time. It was almost concerning to Arielle that the thought didn't even seem to cross Stiles's mind. Maybe Arielle was getting WAY too ahead of herself, considering she was just now starting her senior year of high school and thinking about marriage right now seemed like WAY too soon. But these were things she thought about. More and more now, Arielle was starting to convince herself that it was unfair to ask Stiles to think about something as serious as marriage when he's just now enjoying his newfound freedom. College freshmen rarely want to get into relationships and Stiles was no exception to that._

 _The months leading up to Christmas, Arielle had several huge decisions to make which she would eventually have to tell Stiles about. Christmas night, after spending an entire day with her family as well as the sheriff and Stiles, Arielle lay awake crying to herself, knowing that the kiss Stiles stole from under the mistletoe would be left on her lips like a scar. There was an envelope sitting on her desk with a piece of unfolded paper on top of it. She cried herself to sleep that night, and when she woke up, she knew exactly what had to be done, as much as she didn't like it._

 _"Hey…" Stiles said when he walked into the McCall house that afternoon. He kissed her gently on the lips and rubbed her cheek with his thumb, "You wanna get lunch or something?"_

 _Arielle sighed and looked down at the ground, not exactly sure how to start this. So instead, she lead him outside and closed the door behind her. She looked at the decor on the porch; the woods that surrounded her house. There were so many sweet and romantic memories on this porch that she had with this man who stood before her. She almost didn't want to say it as she felt her throat close up. Stiles worriedly ushered her to the rocking bench._

 _"What's wrong?" he asked quietly, rubbing her back._

 _"Stiles…" Arielle whispered, "Where do you see yourself in four years…?"_

 _Taken back a little, he shrugged, "I guess… working somewhere nice. I've always wanted a nice loft apartment. Maybe I could live in one of those like in the warehouse buildings on the edge of town. It'll be cozy and have a great TV-."_

 _Arielle nodded, taking a shaky deep breath and wiping the premature tears in her eyes. What she wanted to hear him say was "married to you". But once again, he wasn't serious. All he could think about in his future was what was best for himself, and building a life for himself. He wasn't all in like Scott was for Kira. He just wasn't. A relationship in two different places couldn't possibly work._

 _"Well… let me tell you where I think I will be in four years," Arielle said calmly, "There's an Emissary Academy in Atlanta, Georgia…"_

 _"Wow… Atlanta… that's far."_

 _"I know," she nodded, "but it's a good place. I could be out in maybe three or four years at the least and I don't need an undergrad to apply."_

 _"Are you going to…?_

 _"Actually… I already did… and… I got in."_

 _Stiles adjusted himself so he could face her. "Arielle… that's such great news and I'm happy for you, but… that's so far away…. what were you planning on doing?"_

 _"I want to stay out there," Arielle answered, "I wanna stay in Georgia until my training is complete."_  
 _"And you'd just leave Scott?"_

 _"Scott will be fine. He's got you. He's got my parents. You guys seemed… really happy in college. Plus, I can call him whenever I want…"_

 _"Don't do this," Stiles begged, "I seriously can't believe that you'd even consider… leaving all of this… leaving me."_

 _"I didn't want to leave you… at first."_

 _"But then?"_

 _She sighed. "Then I saw you at that party, all wasted and stuff… you actually looked like you were having a great time before I got there…"_

 _"Arielle…" Stiles said, starting to get choked up as he placed a hand on her cheek, "I'm begging you…"_

 _She shook her head several times. "You can party all you want and enjoy yourself…" She scooted away from him so his hand fell at his side, his eyes starting to get filled with tears, which didn't make this any easier, "but that's not for me. I want to do something that's greater than myself. I want to be a special agent and protect people… and it's not fair to me to think that everything's going to be just fine with us when I know that something has broken…"_

 _"You said it was bent," Stiles recalled, "You never said it was broken."_

 _"But that's the thing!" Arielle argued, "I told you we weren't broken, so you just kept bending at your own will, thinking it wouldn't break until it finally did… and it hurts to look at you now… knowing that we can't be together unless one of us is miserable…"_

 _Stiles sniffed and wiped his eyes, "So that's it, then? You're breaking up with me and moving to Georgia?"_  
 _Arielle nodded, a tear falling down her cheek, which she left there instead of wiping it away with her hand._

 _"Can you just say it once?" he asked, "Just… so I can hear it and move on with my life?"_

 _She drew in a sharp breath. She knew exactly what he meant. It was something they had talked about during their many pillow talks. He told her that if she ever decided to leave him, he would need her to say the one thing that would help him be able to survive and pick himself back up off the ground. If he just heard this one sentence, then he could stop torturing himself with the fantasy that she could come back to him._

 _"I can't love you anymore... " she whispered through her tears._

 _With that, she stood up and left him there in his own misery on the rocking bench on the porch, crying. Arielle ran up to her room and flung herself on the bed. She didn't regret breaking up with Stiles. Not only could she no longer see herself in a future relationship with him, but she also couldn't get that image of that girl's tongue on his neck out of her mind. He was no longer hers. He now belonged to the college culture of late nights, drunken mistakes, and random hookups. It was no longer fair for her to keep him tied down to her. And she hated that. For the next three years, Arielle was kept up to date with Scott, listening to how well it was going with Kira even though she was attending college an hour away from Beacon Hills. They were making it work. They had a future. It just made Arielle hate Stiles more and more for throwing away the beautiful future they could have had. The future that was never going to happen now. Arielle could no longer be happy and that was all because of Stiles._

 _That was the last time Stiles Stilinski ever saw Arielle McCall._


	5. Self-Sabotage

The SCIS van pulled up in front of Beacon Hills High School. Arielle didn't even bother parking it properly before hopping out of the driver's side, gun fully loaded and ready to go just in case she needed it to take this guy down. Followed by Scott and Kira, they barged into the boy's locker room, which felt all too much like old memories for these guys. They approached a group of bone headed jocks, arm wrestling one another and laughing about which girl had the most cleavage in class that day (something Scott didn't miss at all).

"Special Agents," Scott said as the three of them flashed their badges to the boys.

"HA!" one boy laughed, "Special Agents of what?"

"Beacon Hills SCIS," Kira answered.

The boy formed an arrogant grin on his face, which made Arielle's blood start to boil.

"What does that mean?" he asked.

"It means we can send your asses to jail if we want to," Arielle spat, "so shut up and answer the questions."

The boy cowered back down onto the bench.

"Do you know where we might find a student named Anderson?" Kira asked.

"You mean that kid who talks to himself?" another boy asked, "He hasn't been seen in days."

"Yeah, good riddance," another boy chuckled.

"Good riddance?" Scott asked.

"Yeah," that same boy answered, "He was a real weird kid. Always muttered to himself. Nobody could ever understand what he was saying. He had a weird habit of scratching himself a lot too. He had this girlfriend who died, so now he's just going around sending death threats to people."

"He sends them?" Arielle asked, "Is there any you could show us?"  
Another boy nodded and opened his locker, handing Arielle a piece of black paper which had "Here's to who won't make it to graduation" written on it in white crayon.

Scott's phone rang, causing everyone to jump just a little bit.

"Stiles?" Scott answered.

"Hey, you gotta find this Anderson kid fast," Stiles said urgently, "Not only is Lydia freaking out right now, but I just found this kid's facebook page and it is probably the most depressing thing I've ever seen. He's posting suicide threats, depressing photos, writing down his potential last words to each and every person he's ever known… dude, this doesn't look good. If you ask me, I think he killed Lily because he already knew he was going to sabotage the relationship anyway.

"And not to make matters worse… but he's missing," Scott added.

"What? He's missing!" Stiles panicked, "Dude, you gotta track this guy fast or who knows what he'll do to himself or others around him."

"Got it."

Scott hung up the phone and shared a nod with Arielle, then Kira.

"Do you know where his locker is?" Arielle asked.

"Yeah," one of the boys answered, leading them to the locker in the very corner of the room; the last one in a row up against the wall. They were surprised to see it unlocked and open, but once Arielle opened the door, Scott could immediately catch his scent which flowed out of the tiny metal box. In the mixture, he could smell fear, angst, anxiety, and sadness. There was a whole lot of sadness. The three of them followed Scott as he caught the scent.

They ended up in the woods, somewhere towards the river. By the time they found him, Anderson was standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down at the rocks as they pushed against the rushing river.

"Anderson!" Kira shouted, "Don't!"

He turned around, his eyes filled with tears, his cheeks bright red, and his hair a complete mess on top of his head.

"I killed her…" he whispered, "I-I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay, Anderson," Scott said gently as he started to approach him, "We can help you."

"No you can't!" Anderson cried, "I've already done enough damage… I killed the only good thing left in my life…"

"But you can turn it all around," Scott assured him, "We can teach you how to control it."

"It won't work…" Anderson said, shaking his head, looking down at the river below him, "I've broken too much… I hurt her… it can't be fixed… I let her down… there's nothing else I can do."

"Yes there is," Arielle interjected, "You can forgive yourself… you can make things right with the people you love who are still here… you can choose to give yourself a better life instead of succumbing to this. You are strong enough."

Anderson shook his head, a look of emptiness in his eyes. With that, he let all the weight in his body go as he fell down off the edge of the cliff like a feather.

"Arielle!" Kira screamed.

Without even thinking, Arielle raised her hand forward, her fingers formed the shape of a claw. She closed her eyes sharply and breathed, her fingers clenching the air. Kira and Scott ran to the edge and looked over, seeing Anderson on top of a flat circle of water which held him there just before the sharp rocks in the river. They arrested him for the murder of Lily Reynolds, but Arielle insisted they keep him in one of the holding cells at SCIS so they could do some work with him before sending him off.

"Don't worry…" Arielle said softly as she stood in front of Anderson's unit, "This'll all be settled before you leave here."

"C-Can you let my family know?" Anderson asked, sniffing from the cold of the water and all of the crying he had been doing earlier after a failed suicide attempt, "I-I don't want them to w-worry…"

"Of course," she nodded, "Detective Stilinski called before we found you but he will let them know that we have you and that you are safe with us."

He nodded back, cuddling up in the blanket she offered him. "T-Thank you Agent McCall…"

Back up stairs, Stiles had just hung up with Anderson's parents from the phone on Scott's desk, telling them that everything was going to be alright. Of course, they were worried about their son and demanded to see him, but he assured them they would see him in due time. Hearing a parent stress over their child like that made Stiles appreciate the kind of hell his father used to go through with him all the time.

Arielle emerged from the downstairs, her face dimly lit by the half moon in the sky plus the low lighting of the office, since everyone had gone home at this point.

"Alright, spill," Arielle said when she returned to her desk.

"Spill what?" Stiles asked.

"How did you do it? You knew why Anderson killed Lily before he could even tell us," she answered, "I wanna know how you figured it out."

"Actually," he sighed, "I read online somewhere about guys who sabotage their own relationships…" Arielle tensed up a little bit and picked up her bag, ready to leave at any moment if he did something that would make her feel uncomfortable, "One article said that some guys mess up their relationships on purpose because they know it's already going to happen anyway… they don't think they deserve love and so they sabotage it… it's weird how that's sort of like self-sabotage. Anderson was punishing himself by killing the best thing he ever had."

"That's sad…" Arielle muttered, turning off her desk lamp as she walked past Kira's desk and stopped right at Scott's, where Stiles was now sitting.

"You know, I oughta thank the guy," he chuckled.

"Why?"

"Because if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have figured it out… how I ruined our relationship…"

Arielle sighed and shifted her weight. Finally, she thought, some sense out of him.

"I sabotaged our relationship," he concluded, "In a way, I think we both did… I was reckless because I thought I had nothing to worry about… and you decided you were done with me before things could get any worse… you probably dodged a bullet on that one."

"I definitely dodged a bullet," Arielle agreed, crossing her arms. It wasn't the exact realization she was hoping she'd hear, but it was close enough. The words she wanted to hear were "you couldn't see a future with me" or "you thought I didn't want to get married someday". In a way, however, it sounded like he got the point.

"But now all of that is behind us…" Stiles said, standing up and quickly approaching Arielle, taking her hands in his, "and I'm gonna win you back, Arielle McCall." Arielle heart began to race with fear and anxiety, "I'll do whatever it takes… but I won't stop until I'm yours again."

Arielle snatched her hands away from his and took a few slow steps away from him, a bleak and emotionless expression on her face. Before she could even process this or say anything, she turned and marched out of the office, leaving Stiles there more determined and ready than any man on the planet.


	6. 5 Ways to Wreck a Relationship

Stiles Stilinski kept a webpage bookmarked on his server on every computer he owned. It was an article written by a psychology student at Yale who was studying the behavioral habits in romantic relationships. The title was "10 Ways to Wreck a Relationship: What You're Probably Doing Wrong". The end of the article states that if 3 or more things on this list are unfixable, then it's more than likely that the relationship is over and there is nothing else to be done. Stiles refused to accept that. In fact, he gladly welcomed the challenge with open arms. If he could fix any and all of these things on the list, then he could be back with Arielle again. These are the first 5 ways to wreck a relationship:

 **"The first way is you may be losing respect for your significant other. You might be belittling them. Women, in particular, have a lot more respect for themselves than they used to. If you want to keep a woman around, treat her like an equal."**

Arielle once presented research to the pack which she had found reading a book from the local library on supernatural creatures, specifically shapeshifters. Since Anderson was a wendigo, a type of shapeshifter, she thought she would find something that could help him.

"There is probably a way we can kill the demonic creature that's taking over his body," she stated, "After all, Wendigos are just demonic spirits taking over the bodies of the young. If we can somehow weaken the demon, we can kill it, right? Like when Stiles was possessed by that Nogitsune."

Stiles applauded loudly, to which everyone looked at him in complete judgment and confusion. His clapping slowly stopped.

"What?" he asked, "I'm applauding her. She did a good job. I can totally respect someone who can take matters into their own hands like that."

While Arielle frowned, her lips still formed into a half grin as she continued relaying her plan. Stiles called that progress.

 **"The second way to wreck a relationship is expecting your significant other to be the same as you. You expect them to like all the same things you do. You want them to think the same, act the same, and make the same decisions as you. Some may argue that this creates better harmony in a relationship, but that is not harmony. In fact, that is unison and that is boring. Harmony works when two different sounding notes comes together to make something better. Try finding the differences between the two of you. Be two separate people."**

"What do you mean your dad wants Anderson?" Arielle asked as they marched through the hallway between the interrogation room and the holding units.

"The sheriff's department wanna bring him in for his hearing," Stiles answered, "They want him by next week at the earliest."

"But he could go to jail," Arielle argued.

"Exactly," Stiles nodded, "He murdered someone. That's what happens to people who tear the limbs off of little girls and eat their flesh and then leave them on the side of the road to bleed out and die."

"I need more time," Arielle spat, "I promised Anderson I would find a way to fix this."

"Well your way isn't fast enough. Do you realize we could potentially get shut down if we don't even know how to handle our prisoners?"

"Stop calling him that."

Stiles paused and frustratingly turned around, "What?" he asked bluntly.

"Anderson is a person."

"Anderson is a Wendigo. He's killed dozens of people."

"So have you!" There was silence between them. Stiles frowned and sighed in anger, "and where would you be if Scott or your dad had given up on you? Last time I heard from Kira, her parents and a trained hunter were 100% ready to kill you the next time they saw you, but it was Scott and your dad who fought for the human inside you. Stiles… let me fight for the human inside Anderson…"

Stiles didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit. He didn't want to get invested in the life of a prisoner. It was dangerous. If Anderson can't control himself, it would only take one bite to kill Arielle. Then she'd be dead and there's no telling what the Greek Naiad spirit inside her would do to Anderson. Although he had to admit, the idea of their conflicting ideas seemed a lot like progress to him.

"Do you see what we're doing?" Stiles asked.

Arielle blinked several times. "What?"

"We're conflicting," he said with a grin, "You and I. We have separate opinions. We're not the same… isn't that cool?"

"Stiles!" Arielle snapped, "You can call your dad and tell him to tell whomever wants this so-called hearing to shove it. I'm not giving up on Anderson."

She stormed out, leaving Stiles in a mixture of frustration and excitement. What a weird place to be in.

 **"The third way to wreck a relationship is by taking things personally and making them about you. Nobody wants to date an egotistical brat. Plain and simple. This is most commonly found in High School relationships, when people are at the point where they are the most self-centered. They think their significant other is saying one thing when they're really saying something else, but they then it's too late because now they're all rattled up about feeling attacked by someone they care about. BE CAREFUL. Not everything is about you. Not everyone is attacking you. SLOW DOWN."**

In the interrogation room, Arielle sat Anderson down at the table while she sat on the other side. Stiles was standing in the corner of the room with a taser gun in his hand and an actual gun on his belt. His face was cross and stern. Anderson looked at him in fear, his hands shaking on the table.

"Hey…" Arielle said gently, "Look right at me, okay?"

Anderson nodded, turning his focus on Arielle; the good cop.

"I just want to get to know you a little better," she said, "Do you wanna tell me what your favorite subject in school is? How about your favorite sport?"

He shook his head.

"Okay…" she continued sweetly, "What about your family? Can we talk about them?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Great," she smiled, "Do you have a mom?" Silence filled the room as Anderson stared at the table blankly, as though a thousand thoughts were filling his poor mind, "I have a mom… she's a surgeon now. She used to be a nurse, but now she works with kids just like you… she wants to make sure you're okay just as much as I do."

"My mom is an accountant," Anderson added, "She's very busy, but she's smarter than my dad."

"What does your dad do, Anderson?"

"Well… when he's not sitting on the couch watching movies about underprivileged athletes with compelling back stories, he sells houses."

"That sounds amazing…"

Stiles, still frustrated from his and Arielle's fight earlier, finally spoke up for himself. "I'm sorry, how is this relevant? What good is this doing?"

Arielle turned around and shot him a look, her eyes like knives against his while she spoke through her teeth. "Would you butt out, please? I can handle this without interference."

Stiles was almost a little offended by how harshly she talked back to him, but the words from the article echoed in his head. She wasn't attacking him personally. She just wanted space to do her thing and he was pushing it. He took a deep breath and stepped back into the corner, which absolutely surprised Arielle. This was very adult of him, she thought. He was taking her seriously and listening to her. It wasn't like all those years ago. This was different. It actually felt better this way.

 **"The fourth way to wreck a relationship is putting other things in front of the relationship. Nothing is more frustrating than feeling like you're not appreciated by someone you deeply care for. When you put other things in front of the relationship, like work or other things, it can make your significant other feel like they do not matter anymore to you, which is the worst feeling in the world. When you prioritize your significant other, and their plans, and always put them first, you're already on your way to making things a whole lot better."**

This was one of the lessons Stiles learned the hard way during that summer between his junior and senior year of high school.

After work the next evening, Arielle stood up and proudly announced that she made a breakthrough with Anderson, bragging about how he was willing to participate in some exercises with a therapist to see if they can get some control over his own personal demons before she can help him control the real one inside his head. His personality was starting to come back as well.

"So," she concluded, "I say we celebrate. We should all go to dinner. The whole pack."

"We could call Liam, Hayden, and Mason too!" Kira suggested.

"Well I'm there," Stiles said, "For sure."

"Really?" Arielle asked, frowning, "I thought for sure you'd say no so you can stay up and sleuth some more."

"Eh," he said with a shrug, "I can go one night without sleuthing, am I right? Besides, if I get desperate, I'll just come back after dinner. We're about to figure out how to save Wendigos and it's all because of you. You deserve a night off with all of us."

If this were anything like High School, Arielle would have automatically assumed that Stiles would drop anything to do more research on whatever crisis their in the middle of. Even then, he ignored her once just so he could plan a romantic getaway for them. Immediately putting all things aside so he could spend more time with her was something new. The list of reasons Arielle's heart was full that night had a lot to do with a really special kid she was trying to save, but the majority of it was because of that man who was doing a great job of mending things with her. Now was Arielle prepared to get back together with him? Of course not. There were too many red flags still in the air.

 **"The fifth way to wreck a relationship is not creating a safe space to speak honestly. Honesty is important in every relationship you will ever be in. It creates trust. It also brings couples closer together because you know things that no one else will ever know about your significant other. However, if you don't have a time or space to share these things with each other, then your partner does not feel safe to share with you. Give them a private space and let them speak their mind with you. Make them feel like they can bear their soul to you and use this space as your safe space; the space where you can always lay down your load."**

That Sunday afternoon, Arielle came over to Scott's apartment just to spend some quality time with her "favorite brother". She had just dropped Anderson off at therapy and was excited to tell him all about the facility and how she had high hopes for him. However, after a few knocks, there was complete silence. She knocked several times after. Still no answer.

Stiles exited the elevator with his arms full of grocery bags. The bags rustling together was so loud that there was no way Arielle couldn't notice him.

"Hey Arielle!" Stiles said delightedly, "What brings you by?"

"Oh, you know, brother/sister bonding time," Arielle shrugged, "but I don't think he's home right now. Either that or he doesn't wanna be disturbed..."

"The latter makes more sense," Stiles nodded, "but hey! You're always welcome at my place. Just like when I lived with my dad."

"God, I miss the Sheriff," Arielle said, taking a few bags from him as he opened his door with the keys from his pocket, "I feel like I only hear from him through Deaton or you. How's he doing?"

"He's doing well," Stiles answered, "Still cracking jokes whenever he can."

"Good," Arielle giggled.

"What about Melissa and Rafael?" he asked, "You live with them now, right?"

"Yeah," she nodded, placing the bags on his counter, "To be honest, it feels like high school again. My parents are constantly breathing down my neck, only this time, it's a little more annoying considering I'm an adult now."

"Well they haven't seen you in three years. Maybe they miss you?"

"But I've been back for a while now. How much more can they miss me?"

"You'd be surprised…" Stiles whispered, then cleared his throat, "But like I said, if you ever get sick of your parents and your brother's too busy doing God knows what with Kira, you can always stop by here. I'm mostly like here on that couch watching TV and doing nothing."

"Now that's not true," Arielle laughed, "I'm sure you get girls in here all the time."

He shrugged, "That'd be a no… I haven't been successful in that department as of recent."

"What?" Arielle asked, her eyebrows raised, "You mean you never… did anything with anyone in college?"

"No," he answered plainly, "I guess I was still caught in my head after-."

Arielle sharply turned her head. They both knew he really didn't need to finish that sentence. To be honest, she was glad he didn't say it. She really didn't want to hear how he never moved on because he was still hung up on her. But it was true. Every time a girl batted her eyelashes at Stiles, he would just remember Arielle. So he shoved other women out of his life in order to help him forget her, but he never did. Not really. The longer Arielle stared at those helpless eyes, the heavier her heart felt. She was so focused on him that she jumped when the door swung open.

"Hey!" the sheriff cheered, "Look who's back!"

"Hi Sheriff," Arielle said sweetly, walking over to him and hugging him, "It's good to see you again. I was just asking about you."

"Don't listen to a word this punk says," the sheriff laughed.

"Believe me, I don't," she responded, causing them both to burst into thunderous laughter while Stiles sarcastically applauded the both of them.

The sheriff originally came over to have dinner with his son, but was more than willing to have Arielle stay with them. In fact, he would despair if she left them.

They talked about the academy. The sheriff and Stiles constantly asked her questions about what it was like. It was the first time Arielle got to really talk about her experience. It was three years of solitude and hard work with a no-sex policy. Not one agent broke that rule. Arielle says it's refreshing. That's what she always told people in her troop. After three years, she had picked up the work so fast that her training was complete and they were able to send her home. She was afraid she was going to have to call her dad for a job, which is why she was so thankful that the Sheriff called first. As frightened as Stiles was to hear of her return, he was grateful she did. Otherwise he wouldn't be experiencing this moment.

After dinner, the sheriff cracked a few more jokes, whispering to Stiles about how big of an idiot he is, and then departed with a smile on his face and high hopes that he would see that girl as his daughter-in-law one day.

Inside the apartment, Stiles and Arielle had finished up washing dishes and took to a few sips of wine before she really did have to leave.

"Wait, wait," Stiles paused, "So, I get why you didn't want to elaborate on this when my dad was here… but no sex? Really? You didn't even break the rules once?"

"Nope," Arielle responded proudly, "But saying that everyone else did was a complete lie. I was the only one who followed the rule."

"Why?" he asked, "I mean, good for you, but why?"  
The answer was simple. "I didn't want any distractions. You know how I am."

"When you care, you care with your whole damn heart," Stiles recalled, sipping from the wine glass.

"And I wanted to get as much from the academy as I could," she continued, "Turns out, I learned 10 times more in one year than what the rest of my class learned in 4 years. I paid attention."

"I applaud you," he complimented.

"Well, it wasn't an easy task," Arielle sighed, "If you asked me what the hardest obstacle I've ever gone through is, I'd tell you it was controlling my hormones."

"So…" he said, his voice getting lower as he put the wine glass down, "You've learned to control it?"

"Yeah," she said proudly.

He inched closer to her slowly. "That's… amazing."

"Stiles," she breathed, causing him to stop immediately, "I know you… I know what you're doing. You're moving in cause you think you have some kind of power over me… but this isn't high school anymore…"

"Okay," he nodded, "Message received. Honestly, I knew it was a long shot anyway."

"What do you mean?" she asked as she gathered her things, heading towards the door.

He shrugged as he opened the front door for her, "A woman like you, as clever and strong as you are, would never go for a fool like me."

She laughed quietly. "Thanks for today, though… I appreciate you letting me invade your space."

"Hey, my space is your space," he assured her, "Don't forget that."

"I won't…"

They said goodnight and she left, hitting the elevator button as he closed the door. The second the elevator doors close, Arielle breathed heavily, wondering what could have happened if she hadn't stopped him. Then she hit herself on the head, trying to make sense of why she would even allow that thought to cross her mind. But then she figured it out. He gave her a space to let her be open and they talked for much longer than she planned to talk to her own brother. There was something growing between Arielle and Stiles whether she liked it or not. They were finally connecting again.


	7. 4 More Ways to Wreck a Relationship

Alright! More progress! Stiles thought to himself that night as he lay happily in his bed. That list was doing a whole lot of good in his life. Just the mere thought of the possibility that Stiles could hold Arielle in his arms again made his heart race and it was all thanks to this little list. Who knew Yale students could be so smart?

After a successful week of communication, laughter, late nights in the office, and debating about Star Wars; something that they haven't done in years. Arielle was beginning to trust him more and everyone in the office was noticing. She had replaced those cold stares with pink cheeks, small giggles, and a flip of her hair. Even though Stiles was a little too confident in where they were in their relationship the other night, he was still ready to try and move forward as slowly as possible, making sure she responded positively to everything he was learning.

* * *

The sixth way to wreck a relationship is focusing on what's broken rather than what's right. It can be easy to only think about what's bad in the relationship. Sometimes people have this general outlook on life. The bad things tend to be heavier than the good, which is why people worry about it so much. Take a step back and remember that the good is greater than the bad. It may not seem like it, but people who always try to see the best things in every situation tend to have more successful relationships all around.

* * *

The good is greater than the bad, Stiles repeated in his mind over and over again as he headed into work on a beautiful sunny Friday morning. It was the kind of mentality that they've all needed to have at one point in this whole big crazy journey. Maybe bringing a little more of that can-do attitude will switch things up at work.

Stiles walked into the office with a big smile on his face. However, when he caught a glimpse of Arielle's face as she sat in her desk, he could clearly see tears fall from her eyes down her cheeks and into her lap, her face turning as red as her highlights. The sudden urgency he felt to run to her and hold her took him over as he started to rush towards her. Scott immediately jumped up and stood in front of him, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Scott, what's going on?" Stiles whispered.

Scott sighed, his whole face and body sinking. "Anderson finished his first week of therapy… and he hung himself last night… they found his body in a stairwell…"

Even though Stiles didn't have that much of a connection to Anderson, his heart hurt for Arielle, the girl who thought she could save him. He ached for her and pushed past Scott, rushing to her side and taking her in his arms as she tightly grasped onto him, weeping in his shoulder. He couldn't help but cry with her. The life of a teenager is too precious nowadays. It stung at the thought of losing one who almost had a chance to get his life back together.

After a few minutes, Stiles let her go and their day continued on. Of course, Arielle didn't speak to anyone all day. Instead, she went out to the training field in the blazing sun, punching things and screaming until she got tired. Then she'd sit down for a few minutes, drink water, instantly regain all of her strength, and repeat the same thing all over again. This went on until the sun went down. She didn't even break for lunch. Nobody in the office saw her inside all day. Stiles was scared.

He slowly walked outside, approaching the field as Arielle screamed each time she threw a punch at an inflatable bag.

"Hey…" Stiles said calmly, "Scott and Kira said you could stay at their place tonight if you want…"

"No thanks," Arielle grunted as she kept punching, "I'm not finished here yet."

Stiles shook his head, "You know you gotta stop at some point. That poor bag can only handle so much in one day."

Arielle glared at him before starting to punch faster and harder, making the bag fall back and shoot up faster and faster. Then she started kicking, grunting and panting and screaming in frustration until she shrieked and charged towards it, her eyes bright blue as she tackled it to the ground. She fell face first onto the ground. Stiles panicked and ran to her side, kneeling beside her, but not touching her, just in case she was losing control. When there was no sign of any sudden movement, he gently placed his hand on the small of her back, comforting her as carefully and slowly as possible.

"I just wish I knew what I did wrong…" she said, her voice muffled by the bag deflating underneath her.

He shook his head, "You can't focus on that… you can't blame yourself for what you may or may not have done that was wrong… instead you should focus on what you did right."

She lifted her head slightly, brushing her hair out of her face.

"You took a chance on a kid because you believed in him," he assured her, "You brought a smile back to his face. You gave him hope. Not to mention, you now know how to save other Wendigos because of the research you did for Anderson… you did so many wonderful things for him while he was alive… you can't let the bad outweigh the good."

Arielle picked herself up so she was now sitting on the ground, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. Her heart started to slowly ache more and more for Anderson, wishing he had given himself a chance to live life. But he didn't. He was gone. It weighed heavily on her heart. Stiles hushed her and took her into his arms, letting her cry in his shoulder once again, but this time for much longer until she relaxed in his arms, the sun setting behind them.

* * *

The seventh way to wreck a relationship is fading attraction. Let's be real for a second, not all couples need to have sex, but without the physical attraction, what are you even doing in the relationship? Why would you be with someone you can't stand to look at? I'm not saying your significant other has to fit the universal definition of perfect appearance, but they should at least be physically attractive in YOUR eyes. If you find yourself un-attracted to your partner, then there's a definite disconnect between the two of you. If you're having sex, try spicing things up in the bedroom. If you're not, try touching them more often; cuddle, kiss, enjoy each other's view. If you try this and the spark is still not there, then the relationship probably isn't worth it anyway.

* * *

That weekend, Stiles walked into Scott's apartment, waiting for him so they could hit the bars as part of "guy's night". It was not only a way for Scott to take a break from Kira for one night, but also a way for the guys to help Jordan keep his mojo up now that he's married to one of the most independent, kickass women in all of Beacon Hills.

Stiles walked in and didn't see anyone, so he assumed Scott was probably upstairs changing. He jumped over the couch and sat down, relaxing himself for a little bit.

Quite suddenly, he heard a voice calling to him. It wasn't saying his name, but it was singing; a girl was singing to him. She only sang a soft and gentle "ooh", but it was enchanting and intoxicating, like the sound she was making was made especially for him. He stood up and followed the voice all the way to the bathroom, where the water was running and the steam was pouring out of the cracks of the door. He was numb to any judgment or doubts. He was a slave to this woman.

Behind that door and past a curtain was Arielle standing in Scott's shower, washing off the last of the conditioner in her hair. When she finished, she stepped out, still singing quietly to herself as she wrapped a towel around her body. She turned around to grab a hairbrush when she saw Stiles standing there behind her, motionless and dazed. Arielle screamed, which caused Stiles to wake up from his trance, screaming as well.

"Stiles!" Arielle shouted, "What the fuck?"

"Oh god," Stiles panicked, "I am so sorry… I just… thought I heard something."

"Well yeah!" Arielle spat, "That was me singing and I don't really expect you to critique my performance at this time."

"What are you even doing here?"

"The water's off at my parent's house. Something about a pipe or something. The better question is what the hell are YOU doing here?"

He thought about it for a minute; about how he was going to explain himself to her just now. However, he didn't really remember how. In fact, all he remembered were the musical notes and next thing he knows, he's standing in front of a naked Arielle wrapped in a towel, more angry and frightened than he had ever seen her look at him. It started to make more sense as Stiles took into account what was happening, "I didn't know you had a siren…"

"A what?" Arielle asked, frowning, "Isn't that like that thing that mermaids use to destroy people?"

"Yeah," he quietly confirmed, "It was also used to… attract any man within earshot…"

He looked at her skin, her smooth tan skin which was glistening from the water that was rolling off her, her chest rising and falling as her breathing got heavier and heavier. Her eyes had stars in them as she was growing in fear. She looked so innocent and so perfect. Flashes of her perfect naked body started to flood his mind, but he bit the inside of his cheek to stop him from losing control. Arielle could see that Stiles wasn't handling this very well, but he quite slowly and stoically picked up a bathrobe, wrapped it around her body, helped her arms fit through the sleeves, and then tied it at her waist. That made things a little bit easier for him to handle.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'll give you your privacy."

As he turned to leave, Arielle admired him, watching his body move, his beautiful light brown eyes leaving hers which left a mark on her heart. She blinked and found herself reliving a memory that reminded her a lot of this moment.

 _He saw her perfect figure stand up and stretch for a little bit, then she walked over to one side of the room and pulled out a shirt. Stiles knew that if he kept watching this happen in front of him, then he'd be a goner for sure. However, he just kept on watching, letting the temptation get to him. She threw her baggy shirt over her head to reveal her even more perfect and natural frame as she stretched her arms up to put the rest of her clothes on. Stiles knew that she wouldn't want him watching her like that._

 _Stiles pushed the curtain back and walked into her space of the cabin._

 _"What do you want?" she asked._

 _He let the curtain fall back its place and saw her dressed in baggy sweatpants and a tight tank-top. He was still stunned from what he saw, so he basically stalked inside the space, scaring Arielle just a little bit. It didn't make sense what he was doing in there until he walked over to the lamp that was giving him a perfect view of her. He touched the lamp and then turned it off._

 _"You should really keep this off," he said in a deep voice._

 _Arielle was right beside him now and he didn't know how she got like that, but they were so close and all the lights were off, so all they could see was what the moon allowed them to see._

 _"Don't kiss me," she whispered._

 _"I wasn't going to," Stiles whispered back._

 _He then touched her shoulder lightly before he headed back behind the curtain to his side of the room. Arielle fell on the bed and she couldn't help but think why he wouldn't want to kiss her now, since they were all alone in the woods with no one else around. It was weird. What was especially weird was how she tried to box him out of her life for so long only to want him to touch her. It was a longing she couldn't control, and the fact that she was losing control was scratching at her like sand paper._

Now as she stood there, heart racing and body tingling, she remembered that feeling of wanting him to do something when he probably was right not to. But nevertheless, Arielle was standing there, aching for him. It was the first time she had a feeling like that in three or four years. Suddenly it was back and it made her want Stiles more desperately than she had ever wanted him before.

* * *

The eighth way to wreck a relationship is preferring to be right instead of choosing to be in love. This is probably the quickest way to end a relationship. If you choose to be right, not only are you disrespecting your partner, but you are also being selfish. Why do you think married people always say "yes dear"? Because they want to STAY. MARRIED. Sure, they may seem miserable at times, but love isn't the most perfect and precious thing in the world all the time. In fact, it's probably the messiest thing in the world, but when it really works, it can feel pretty damn great. Choose love. Don't choose pride. Choose to be in love.

* * *

Stiles read this and thought to himself that he would love to be able to choose to be in love, but the only thing he was missing was the girl to be in love with so he could actually choose her. It was starting to get a little confusing between them. He clearly saw her face and her heavy breathing when he walked in on her the other day by accident. He considered several times that maybe he was just overthinking things and that wanting her to chase after him that day was selfish. Either way, Stiles had to prepare himself for the most idiotic thing he would ever do; tell Arielle he loves her still.

He decided the best way to do this was to invite everyone over for dinner at his place, which Lydia took over instantly, knowing that there was no way Stiles could host a dinner all on his own. The plan was to sit at the dinner table, have a nice conversation, laugh a little bit, and then once everyone left, he'd ask Arielle to help him clear the table so he could start a little after-party conversation. Stiles was always known for coming up with the best plans.

At the end of the evening, when Lydia, Jordan, and Kira had all left the apartment, Scott hesitated to go.

"You want a ride home?" Scott asked his sister, "I can hang out or help if you want."

"You know, I think Arielle's got it," Stiles suggested, "She's a strong independent woman, after all."

Arielle shrugged with a grin on her face, "He's not wrong."

"It's fine, man," Stiles assured him, "I'll take her home."

"You sure?" Scott asked, directing his attention to Arielle, who nodded at him.

"Yeah," she confirmed, "Sounds good to me."

Scott looked between Stiles and Arielle, who were increasingly getting closer and closer to each other at a very slow rate. Each time one passed a dish to the other and their hands touched, he could hear their heartbeats racing. Both of them knew something that they didn't want the other to know. He had half a mind to say something about it, but stopped himself, remembering what happened the last time he interfered with Arielle's personal life. So with a nod goodbye to his best friend and kiss goodbye on his sister's forehead, he left, closing the door quietly behind him.

"He's doing well," Stiles said, as he started scrubbing a pan in the sink.

"What do you mean?" Arielle asked.

"Well, you know, he used to be all protective and always worrying about everyone, especially you."

"Oh yeah, that… I've been all the way across the country for 3 years. I think he can handle leaving me across the hall."

"He probably couldn't handle all that separation…" Stiles said, his voice growing into a mutter.

"He?" Arielle coughed.

Stiles shrugged, "Well… if you want me to be honest."

"Always."

He looked up at her, the conversation suddenly taking on a somber mood.

"Okay," he answered, "To be honest, I couldn't really grasp why you decided to break up with me in the first place. I just kind of felt like one day we were present and happy and then the next moment you were saying that you wanted to do something greater than yourself… and I didn't want to stand in your way, of course… but after you left I just got to thinking… and I couldn't wrap my head around what happened… I know it was the party and stuff that really set it off and it was the change things, but… still."

Arielle turned around and leaned against the counter, crossing her arms and staring at the floor as she took in a deep breath.

"I guess I just… knew the fantasy was over," she said with a shrug, "Your life was just starting to take off while mine hadn't even started yet… and we were still living in this teenage fantasy that makes us feel like our love was everlasting and epic and magical."

"But none of that matters anymore, does it," he said bluntly, turning to face her and stepping so close to her that he could now clearly hear her breathing, "because we're adults… and it's different… but it's good. We're good. We've changed and you know it. I know you've noticed. We disagree and we fight and we're separate people with different beliefs and ideas but we work and we support each other and we comfort each other and we share more than we've ever shared when we were in high school. Not to mention the Star Wars arguments… I like the Star Wars arguments a lot… but that's besides the point," he slowly placed his hand on her cheek, "My point is that I've had to fight my feelings for three years… and the reason why no girl ever wanted to go near me is because I shut myself down… I thought that if you couldn't love me… you, the most beautiful, gracious, funny, and strong person in the world… then who could love me? I had to stop calling and leaving you voicemails begging for your forgiveness because I knew it was the right thing to do… to give you your space…" He shook his head several times, "but now that I've earned your trust back, I want to prove to you that I deserve it. To hell with what's right. To hell with the rules. To hell with my pride or being right or being the tough guy or top dog or whatever. I'd give up all of that to see you looking at me like that again… I'm choosing to be in love with you." He started to tremble as he brought his other hand to her other cheek, now holding her face in his hands as she stared back at him, her hands reaching up to his shoulder blades. "I love you, Arielle-."

His words were cut off by her lips touching his. Without even thinking twice about it, Stiles moved his hands from her face to her waist and upper body, squeezing her to him as he desperately kissed her, taking in every feeling, every physical movement. He had craved this so badly since the last time they kissed. The joy he felt in his heart was incomparable to anything he had ever felt before. As his hands bunched up the clothes on her body, Arielle breathed into the kiss, grabbing at his clothes as well. Within moments, she was able to pull his shirt off. She was mighty impressed by how much more firm his chest was beginning to feel now that he was much older. His hand traveled down her side, squeezing her ass, then reaching down to her leg as he pulled it up to his waist, trying to feel as much friction between them as possible with the several torturous layers between them.

With his strong arms wrapped around her, she used him to help her jump into his arms, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, feeling his member between her legs, which was growing harder and harder at an incredibly fast rate. Still kissing her passionately, he brought just around the counter to the couch, throwing her on top of it and falling onto her, immediately grinding against her, making her laugh slip into a moan as she kissed him again. They had both been so deprived of sex that all bets were off. He tore her shirt and shorts away from her body, watching her arch her back underneath him, making him more and more hot for her. Both of them were breathing so heavily with anticipation and desperation; the greatest need to just fuck each other's brains out.

Both their clothes came off in seconds and soon his finger came to her clit, rubbing it roughly, which made her moan loudly as his lips trailed along her neck.

"F-Fuck baby…" she groaned.

He grabbed her hands and placed them above her head, tangling their fingers together as he slowly slid his tip inside her, causing both of them to let out a similar moan. As he sunk deeper and deeper inside of her, he took a gasp of air, closing his eyes before shoving himself entirely inside her, making both of them moan even louder.

"Oh god, fuck yes," he continuously repeated slowly as he started to pump his hips in and out of her at a slow pace.

It was messy and loud and rough and desperate, both of them clawing and biting at each other and moaning, making the couch shake. It was by far the dirtiest it had ever been between them. The fire that had been building up inside Arielle now started to cause her to rock her hips against his. Soon enough was enough as she moaned louder and louder. She tightened her legs around him and pushed him over so she was on top, straddling him and biting her lip. Without any hesitation she started to move her hips quickly up and down on top of him. The sensation was so overwhelming that he reached up and grabbed her, pressing her body against his.

His lips were gently pressed against her ear, planting kisses in between choked moans. He pushed her beautiful hair to the side, tangling his fingers in it as he used his other hand to rub the small of her back.

"That's it…" he moaned gently, involuntarily grunting in between phrases, "Right fucking there… f-fuck me… holy shit."

He brought both of his hands to her hips, helping her rock against him. He could feel her starting to clamp down on him, the insides of her quivering around him. Quickly, he flipped them over and started thrusting into her recklessly, gently bringing his thumb to her clit and crashing his lips against her neck, biting at her neck and feeling the vibration of her voice groaning loudly. He wanted her to cum so hard, screaming his name just like she used to. He wanted her to take all of him and scream out for him, letting the entire building know exactly who got to have this perfect sexy woman underneath him.

Just as he added more and more pressure onto her clit, pounding into her harder, he brought his lips to her ear again, this time his voice much deeper and rougher.

"Say it," he begged, "Please baby, say it."

Her moans got louder and gradually higher pitched until she came undone underneath him, the initial high making her scream out his name, which only made him pound her faster. Her quivering and pulsing around him finally made him come undone as well.

Stiles collapsed on top of her, both of them sweating and trembling, their breathing syncopated and shaky. Arielle brought her hands up to his face, bringing him down to kiss her lips slowly and sweetly.

"I love you too…" she whispered.

While that was perfectly and 100% true as she lay there in the arms of her greatest and most epic love, still some part of her wondered how long it would last this time.

* * *

The ninth way to wreck a relationship is not knowing or understanding each other's love language. Married couples who are going on 50 to 60 years use the love language technique as a way to keep things stable as they go into their later years. There are five specific love languages in which partners use to express their love for their significant other. Quality time, physical touch, acts of service, words of affirmation, and gifts. Find which love language your partner speaks, understand it, as well as your own, and adjust accordingly, making sure you cater to each other's love languages.

* * *

Stiles didn't exactly register this one until he walked outside of his bedroom very early in the morning, seeing Arielle sitting on the couch eating a bowl of cereal while staring out the large window in front of them.

"Hey you," he said sweetly, walking over to her and kissing her head.

Arielle had a lot to think about the night before. She had stayed over in his bed the night before, after one of the most first, and more incredible orgasm, she's had in YEARS. Everything seemed to be good. They were back together now, but that same question still picked at her mind; does Stiles see a real future with her? Rather than let it bother her, like she did last time, she decided to figure out another way to move forward, by understanding each other's love languages. If this is successful, she thought, then they wouldn't have to worry about going backwards, because already understanding each other on this level is adding a new layer to their relationship.

"What? You mean that thing with the touching and the gifts?" he asked, starting to remember the article again.

"Oh good," she breathed, "I was really afraid I was going to have to explain that to you."

"I'm always one step ahead of you, babe," he shrugged, walking over to the cabinet and taking out a bowl and a box of cereal.

"But not that ahead me, babe," Arielle sassed, "I've been stuck between two. Quality time and physical touch."

Stiles looked over his shoulder and grinned, "Physical touch, huh? That one seems to make more sense to me."

"Stiles Stilinski!" Arielle giggled, "Can we be serious for a second?"

After swallowing a spoonful of cereal, he quickly set the bowl down on the counter and ran over to Arielle. "Oh you want to be serious?" he teased, taking her bowl and placing it next to his before jumping onto the couch on top of her, placing tiny kisses all over her face and neck, causing her to burst into extreme laughter. As they started to calm down, he stared down at her and brushed a strand of hair away before giving her a long, deep kiss.

"So?" she asked, lacing her fingers in his hair at the back of his neck, "Tell me what you think yours is… I wanna understand you more."

He tilted his head slightly as his lips formed into a soft grin. "Well… I like spending time with you, like all the time… so I guess quality time is the one."

Arielle frowned a little bit, "I think you're definitely acts of service."

"What?" he gasped, "Where's your proof?"

"Oh please!" Arielle scoffed, "You are a pro at ignoring me for days just so you can do something nice for me. You literally spent an entire summer doing just that."

"Fine, that's fair," he shrugged, "but I like doing things for you. It makes me feel like I'm not lazy."

"So you like doing things for me, huh?" she asked, raising her eyebrows, her eyes becoming glassy as she looked directly into his.

"I like doing all kinds of things for you," he said with a wink, taking adjusting so he picked her up in his arms with a little cute shriek that escaped from her lips, "but I wanna have you in my bed…"

Arielle bit on her lower lip and nodded as she beamed at him, her cheeks turning pink. He stood up, carrying her into his bedroom and kicking the bedroom door shut with his foot.

Later that day, she sat at her work desk, watching as Stiles passed by her, winking at her. Kira instantly noticed as Arielle smiled, looking at the ground and biting her lip.

"Arielle McCall!" Kira gasped.

"What?" Arielle asked, suddenly frightened.

"You didn't, did you?" her best friend asked, eyes wide in shock.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Stiles?"

"What? Me and Stiles?"

"Yes!"

"How did you NOT know?" Scott asked from the other desk, "Like you couldn't hear them from across the hall? Believe me, it was disturbing."

"Oh my god, why were you listening!?" Arielle cringed.

"Well originally I was keeping an ear out for you until I heard what started to happen next and then I couldn't sleep all night," her brother answered.

"That's disgusting," Arielle shivered.

"What's disgusting?" Stiles asked as he re-entered the building, carrying a box of evidence he got from the back of the van.

"Nothing," his girlfriend answered, shaking her head.

Stiles approached Arielle's desk, a devilish grin on his face, "Lunch later?"

"Of course," she mouthed. He walked back over to her and kissed her gently and quickly on her lips before heading back down the stairs with a bright smile on his face.

"So how's it going?" Kira asked, an even bigger smile on her face, "You and Stiles again? It isn't weird?"

"No…" she said sweetly, "It's wonderful…"

"Do you think he's gonna do it?" she asked anxiously, "I know you told me you were super worried about the future and all that, but do you think he's actually gonna pop the question now that you guys are back together?"

"God, I hope so," Arielle panicked, "I just wanna move forward and be engaged and get married. Ugh. Waiting to get a ring on my finger from the most wonderful man in the world is the most stressful thing I've ever experienced."

"Other than trying to figure out how to stop an infectious disease-man from killing the entire town, maybe?" Scott asked sarcastically, being completely ignored by his sister and girlfriend in the process.

"I'll give an amen to that, Arielle" Kira said rolling her eyes as she sat back in her chair.

"I've told you before, Kira," Scott said, not looking away from his computer screen, "I promise you will not die alone without a ring on your finger."

"I hate this whole waiting till we're 25 thing," Kira told Arielle.

"That's when the brain has fully developed," Scott argued, "I want to be able to make good decisions by you when I'm actually in my right mind to do so."

Kira nodded at him with a little smile, then spun in her chair to roll her eyes at Arielle, causing her to giggle a little bit.

"It's the whole, my-dad-got-drunk-and-left-me-alone-taking-my-baby-sister-with-him thing," the sister explained.

Luckily, Kira was a master at seeing the brighter side of things, something that Arielle needed a little more help understanding. Of course, she was delighted and happy to be with Stiles again, but as she held her left hand out in front of her, she imagined a wedding band on it, making her heart race with happiness. So desperately she wanted to be with him forever.


End file.
